DATA STORAGE SYSTEM USING COMBINED SERVICE-SUPPLIED AND ADMINISTRATOR-SUPPLIED NETWORK CONFIGURATION VALUES

BACKGROUND

[0001]The present invention is related to the field of network configuration of network-attached systems such as data storage systems.

SUMMARY

[0002]A data storage system (DSS) initiates network operation by, in an exchange with a network configuration server (e.g., DHCP server), receiving a message including a server-selected network address and additional configuration information for services and components of the network. The DSS generates an address prefix and presents it with the additional configuration information to a network administrator, and it receives administrator-selected information including an administrator-generated static network address and at least some of the additional configuration information based on acceptance by the administrator. The DSS sets static network configuration according to the administrator-selected information without signaling acceptance of the server-selected address to the network configuration server, and subsequently engages in network data transfer operations over the network using the static network configuration. The technique can improve ease and accuracy of configuring network devices such as data storage systems, while still allowing for administrator assignment of static network addresses as may be required in operating environments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003]The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of particular embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views.

[0004]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a networked computer system;

[0005]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data storage system;

[0006]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a DHCP message exchange between a client and server;

[0007]FIG. 4 is a high-level flow diagram of network configuration-related operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

[0008]Configuring network settings for network devices such as data storage system can be complex and error-prone, especially when static network addresses are being used. A traditional manual setup process requires users to input various network parameters, such as netmask, default gateway, addresses for DNS and NTP servers, and more, which can be overwhelming storage or network administrators and lead to configuration errors.

[0009]A disclosed technique relates to a method and system for assisted network configuration of data storage devices in environments that offer a network-accessed configuration service such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service. An objective is to simplify the network setup process by leveraging DHCP to provide essential network configuration data that can be used as a hint (or baseline) for actual configuration, which will typically include administrator-selected configuration (such as static network address) as well. The approach can reduce the complexity and potential for errors in network configuration and provide a more user-friendly setup experience. The technique may be particularly beneficial in environments where ease of setup and reliability are critical, such as in enterprise networks and home network-attached storage (NAS) systems.

[0010]More specifically, the technique is particularly useful in systems where it is desired or necessary to configure static network addresses for infrastructure equipment rather than using dynamic (DHCP-assigned) addresses for reasons such as the following:

Consistency and Predictability:

Enhanced Security:

[0013]Details of the above are given below in the context of example systems and environments. The present description is focused on a common use case of Internet Protocol (IP) networks and related services, including Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP). In this context, the network addresses are commonly referred to as IP addresses. Those skilled in the art will understand the extension of this example to other network environments.

Embodiments

[0014]FIG. 1 shows a computing system in which a set of host computers (HOSTs) 10 access secondary data storage provided by a data storage system (DSS) 12 via a network 14. As generally known, the DSS 12 is a specialized device with nonvolatile storage resources (e.g., Flash memory arrays, magnetic disks, etc.) and storage processing circuitry that executes computer program instructions to realize the complex functionality of a modern data storage system, e.g., host data access, data abstraction/virtualization, data protection, compression, etc. Insofar as such structure and functionality are generally known, they are not elaborated herein. The present description focuses primarily on functionality of network interface (NW INTFC) circuitry 16 including creation and use of network configuration (NW CONFIG) information 18. Typically, network-layer functionality including configuration operations as described herein are performed by execution of lower-level computer program instructions such as in a network driver, etc. It will be appreciated that embodiments may be realized by method (sequences of operations), systems/devices (e.g., a DSS), and by non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that cause a computerized system/device (e.g., DSS) to operate in the specified manner.

[0015]As shown, the system also includes various additional network-connected components including a DHCP server 20, administrator system (ADMIN) 22, and other network-accessed servers/services (OTHER) 24 such as a default gateway (GW), network time protocol (NTP) service, Domain Name System (DNS), system log (SYSLOG), and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for example. Some or all of these are accessed by DSS 12 in operation, and thus it is part of the initial network configuration process to obtain information enabling the DSS 12 to access these services 24.

[0016]FIG. 2 shows details of the DSS 12 from a hardware perspective, in one embodiment. It includes front-end interface circuitry (FE INTFC) 30, storage processing circuitry (STG PROC) 32, back-end interface circuitry (BE INTFC) 34, and nonvolatile storage devices (DEVs) 36 as indicated above. The front-end interface circuitry 30 interfaces the DSS 12 to the network 14 using one or more network interface cards (NICs) 38, and the back-end interface circuitry 34 provides an interface between the storage processing circuitry 32 and the storage devices 36, also typically using one or more NICs 40. The storage processing circuitry 32 includes one or more CPUs 42 and memory 44 as shown, and in operation it stores and executes computer program instructions to provide overall data storage functionality including the network-associated functionality, as mentioned above. It will be appreciated that the network interface 16 of FIG. 1 is generally realized by a combination of the front-end interface circuitry 30 and certain program components executed by the storage processing circuitry, e.g., a network driver as mentioned above.

[0017]Various management operations such as configuration, monitoring, troubleshooting, etc. are conducted by one or more administrative users via administrator system(s) 22. The present description focuses primarily on certain details of configuring the DSS 12 for network operations. References to an “administrator” herein should be understood as involving an 0 example a specialized graphical user interface (GUI) and management communications with the DSS 12, as generally known. Other specific arrangements and interfaces to an administrative user may be used. Also, in some cases the administrative entity may be realized at least in part by specialized high-level software.

[0029]As noted, the setup process can be challenging. It generally requires a good understanding of networking concepts. It can be overwhelming and prone to mistakes, as various administrators may be involved in a setup process (e.g., a storage admin and a network admin are two different people/entities involved in setting up a new storage device). Entering each network parameter can also be time-consuming.

[0030]In various embodiments, a solution leverages configuration and “options” information provided by a DHCP server (e.g., DHCP server 20) during a messaging exchange per the DHCP protocol to provide input recommendations for an administrator during setup, while still allowing for administrator control over important items including configuration of a static network address, for example. In the context of DHCP, this can be done by obtaining information in an “Offer” phase of the protocol without proceeding to succeeding Request/Acknowledgement phases typically used for DHCP dynamic address assignment.

[0031]FIG. 3 illustrates the DHCP protocol exchange 50 between the DSS 12 and DHCP server 20 as mentioned above. The DHCP IP address allocation protocol is designed to operate in four phases:

[0032]In FIG. 3 the Request and Acknowledgment (ACK) messages are shown in dashed lines to indicate that they are not used in the presently disclosed technique, as described more below.

[0037]As described below, such resiliency/tolerance of the DHCP protocol is exploited to provide for an enhanced configuration technique. First, certain additional functionality of the DHCP protocol and DHCP services is also described.

[0038]The DHCP protocol allows a DHCP client to receive, in addition to an assigned network address, additional network-related configuration which are contained in “Options” fields of a DHCP Offer message. These Options can include the following:

[0039]Thus, by issuing a Discover and receiving an Offer, DSS 12 receives much environment information about network 14. DSS 12 does not accept the Offer, but it does leverage the Offer payload to ease the configuration burden on an administrator in systems for which some information (such as network addresses) must be statically rather than dynamically assigned. Referring to FIG. 3, the Request and Acknowledgment messages that are included in the normal/specified DHCP exchange are not performed, so that no dynamic assignment of an offered network address is made.

[0040]FIG. 4 illustrates pertinent configuration-related operation used as part of initiating network operation of a data storage system (e.g., DSS 12).

[0041]At 60, in an exchange with a network configuration server for a network (e.g., DHCP server 20), receives a message (e.g., DHCP Offer) including a server-selected network address and additional configuration information for services and components of the network, for use by the data storage system.

[0042]At 62, the DSS generates an address prefix and presents the address prefix and the additional configuration information to a network administrator and receiving administrator-selected information, such as via a GUI at an administrator system 22 as described above. The address prefix is generated based on the server-selected network address, and the administrator-selected information including an administrator-generated static network address and at least some of the additional configuration information based on acceptance by the administrator. These aspects of operation are described further with reference to an illustrative example below.

[0043]At 64, the DSS sets a static network configuration (e.g., network configuration information 18) of the data storage device according to the administrator-selected information, without signaling acceptance of the server-selected address to the network configuration server (e.g., without succeeding Request/Acknowledgement messages), and subsequently engages in regular network data transfer operations over the network using the static network configuration.

Example—Assisting an Administrator with Network Configuration

[0044]In an example process, the DSS 12 can initiate configuration operation by issuing a DHCP Discover message on the network 14 and receive a DHCP Offer message from the DHCP server 22. These messages employ a broadcast address (e.g., IPv4 255.255.255.255) because the DSS 12 has no assigned IP address yet. Once a DHCP Offer is received, its information is harvested by DSS 12, and the following recommendations can be made, e.g., by the DSS 12 populating respective fields of an administrative GUI at the administrator system 22:

IP Address and Subnet Mask

Time Zone Offset (in Seconds)

[0047]The received time zone offset can be offered to the admin as is.

Default Gateway IP Address

[0048]The received default gateway IP address can be offered to the admin as is.

Time Server (NTP)

[0049]The received NTP server IP address can be offered to the admin as is.

Domain Name Server IP Address

[0050]The received DNS server IP address can be offered to the admin as is.

Remote Syslog Server

[0051]The remote syslog IP address that was received can be offered to the admin as is.

Host and Domain name

[0052]The host and domain names can be offered to the admin as is.

Static Routes (Destination+Gateway)

[0053]The received static routes can be offered to the admin.

SMTP Servers

[0054]The received SMTP server IP address can be offered to the admin as is.

[0055]In response to the presentation of configuration information by the DSS 12 as described above, an administrator can selectively accept or modify various configuration items as needed, then by action of the administrative GUI instruct the DSS 12 to incorporate the finalized configuration as the network configuration information 24. It is expected that for many of the environment items identified in DHCP Options as described above, the administrator will typically just accept them, unless there is some particular reason for overriding them with other values. Regarding the network address, in an environment requiring static network addresses such as noted above, the administrator will replace the offered network address prefix with a specific static network address for use by DSS 12. The static network address may be based on the network address prefix that the DSS has provided based on the DHCP-supplied address, or in other cases an administrator may have reasons for selecting an address having a different prefix value. Referring to the above example of the prefix value of 192.168.0.XXX, the administrator may specify a static IP address somewhere in the range of 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.255 for example.

[0056]While the above description is focused on initial configuration of the DSS 12, such as when initially installed for example, the disclosed technique also supports ongoing operation. In one scenario an administrator modifies a configured system's configuration based at least partly on receiving suggestions that can be accepted. As an example, an organization may change its NTP server IP address and the administrator needs to reconfigure the DSS 12 to modify stored NTP server address stored in the network configuration information 18. The administrator can issue control to the DSS 12 to cause it to re-initiate configuration by sending a Discover, receiving an Offer, etc. as described above. In this scenario the DHCP server 20 supplies the new NTP server address in the corresponding Option of the Offer, which is then presented to the Administrator who by accepting it causes the DSS 12 to update the NTP server address in its stored configuration 18.

Additional Information

[0064]Those skilled in the art will appreciate that DHCP is essentially an evolved version of the older BOOTP protocol which includes similar functionality and could be an alternative mechanism for obtaining the server-provided configuration information.

[0065]There are multiple protocols that can provide a system with configuration once an IP address is acquired. For example:

Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)

Provisioning Servers (e.g., PXE Boot)

[0079]The individual features of the various embodiments, examples, and implementations disclosed within this document can be combined in any desired manner that makes technological sense. Furthermore, the individual features are hereby combined in this manner to form all possible combinations, permutations, and variants except to the extent that such combinations, permutations, and/or variants have been explicitly excluded or are impractical. Support for such combinations, permutations and variants is considered to exist within this document.

[0080]While various embodiments of the invention have been particularly shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.